Mt. Spokane’s Micaela Kostecka takes on life’s adversities

The notion that we’re supposed to have life figured out is a bunch of hooey if you ask Micaela Kostecka.

Life many times has a way of throwing unexpected curveballs.

Take last spring, when an injury to her leg caused the Mt. Spokane distance runner to miss the bulk of the track season.

Then as she healed from the injury in June, more curveballs came.

“Three really, really special people in my life passed away consecutively,” Kostecka, a senior, said. “It was tough for me to keep composed with some pretty insurmountable odds. Some would cower in the face of that adversity and loss.”

The grieving process has no timetable and is different for all. The cross country season, though, has allowed Kostecka some solace.

Kostecka didn’t dedicate the season to her late loved ones, but she runs with them on her heart.

“I don’t do it for them, I do it because of them,” Kostecka said. “Their influence in my life has cultivated a new fire. You learn to be adaptable and interpret little shots life fires at you.”

Kostecka was easily the top female runner this fall in the Greater Spokane League. She and her teammates captured the league title when, in the first league dual against Central Valley and Lewis and Clark, the Wildcats won on tiebreakers.

She has learned a valuable lesson this fall – less is more.

“Micaela is one of those runners who just gets off on pushing herself,” Mt. Spokane coach Andrew Sonneland said. “This year it was more of training smarter not harder.”

When the training schedule called for rest, Kostecka backed off, trusting that her coach knew better.

“She was injured in track,” Sonneland said. “It goes back to trying to do too much.”

The result is Kostecka has consistently run 30 seconds to a minute faster than she did a year ago.

She finished fifth at the State 3A meet last fall. She will challenge for a state title Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

Kostecka got a confidence boost earlier this season at a meet in Bellevue. The meet attracted the top 3A runners in the state, including two girls who finished ahead of her at state last year.

She was third in a time of 18 minutes, 17 seconds – her career personal best. She was 2 seconds out of second place and 17 out of first.

Kostecka’s previous personal best came at state last year.

“I’ve got some stuff to do in the Tri-Cities this weekend,” Kostecka said. “I was within 17 seconds of the leader at Bellevue and neck and neck with the other girl. At this point it’s anybody’s race at state. It’s up to the day and up to what everybody brings. There are four of us who can probably win. It’ll come down to who has the most guts and who has the best kick.”

Kostecka’s father is Pat Kostecka, the Mt. Spokane boys cross country and track coach.

She is the oldest of nine children. There are 17 years between Micaela and the newest sibling.

The baby was born during Micaela’s trying summer.

Kostecka has a Type A personality. So this idea of backing off of training stretched her a bit. She’s also a big fan of the late Steve Prefontaine.

“I had to be confident that by resting I wasn’t going to lose fitness,” she said.

Although Kostecka easily won a regional title last weekend, her team finished a point out of qualifying for state.

“It’s the first time I’ve been at Mt. Spokane that my family, my team, won’t be running with me at state,” she said.

Sonneland is in his fifth year as coach and his first four qualified for state.

“This is the best team we’ve had,” Sonneland said.

Sonneland has one minor concern for Kostecka.

“The challenge for her is she hasn’t been pressed much this year,” he said. “Most of her races she’s been out there on her own. It was her against the clock. She’ll have to ramp it up at state.”

Kostecka will go to the starting line Saturday with a simple thought.

“A race is a pretty good analogy of life,” she said. “I’m going in there knowing there’s no pain that can even come close to what I’ve been through.”